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Herrera, the trade return for Marlon Byrd last year, is probably a 2B, but might be able to play SS. Still, if I were Daniel Murphy, I wouldn't make any long-term plans. Herrera (20 years old) was hitting 340/406/560 in 61 games at AA, after starting the season in High-A. I believe he has to be added to the 40-man roster.

I think this is a little fast, perhaps to inject a little enthusiasm into a team and fan base that doesn't really have a lot to be excited about in September. He has certainly lit up AA since being promoted.

d'Arnaud looks like he'd be an awful option as an outfielder and Duda's at first base for now. Shouldn't we wait until we are sure d'Arnaud can really hit well for a catcher before we start thinking his bat is going to play in the outfield? Sucks about the concussions though.

This team has done an amazing job of not developing outfielders. Seriously, who is the best outfielder the Mets have developed in the last decade that actually did something for team? Lagares barely counts as he was an infielder for most of his minor league career?

I said at the time that I really liked that Byrd trade... I think it was actually one of those perfect trades for both teams - the Pirates got a very useful guy that I think was a big help in their final push while Herrera was a nice darkhorse prospect.

Sometimes those prospects actually do hit their top 10% projections - and I think Herrera has a chance to do that. Still think it was the right move for both teams.

BTW, I don't mind bringing Herrera up, as I have never believed in the "early call-up magically turns an MLB player into a janitor", my comment is in regards to the D'Arnaud to the outfield possibility.

This team has done an amazing job of not developing outfielders. Seriously, who is the best outfielder the Mets have developed in the last decade that actually did something for team? Lagares barely counts as he was an infielder for most of his minor league career?

While your point is valid in regards to quantity, I don't think this is entirely fair to the Mets in regards to Lagares. He's a major-league talent CFer developed by the Mets. It doesn't matter that they developed him from the infield, because they did develop him.

Wow. I like this move, but do find it a bit surprising given how good Flores has looked at 2B (at least to my eyes in his limited time there). Curious to see if it's Herrera or Flores who ends up at SS while Murphy's out. I thought that Reynolds would be ahead of Herrera for a call-up, but maybe they're prioritizing the ability to handle 2B?

Plawecki did struggle a bit after his promotion, but he's really turned it on the past few weeks. Overall line for the season's up to .314/.369/.470, and in his minor league career he's at .297/.374/.442.

I think I've been the high man on Herrera for awhile, but I'm still a bit surprised that they jumped him over Reynolds. Just for fun:

David Wright in AA in 272 PAs at age 21.5: .363/.467/.619
Dilson Herrera in AA in 278 PAs at age 20.3: .340/.406/.560

When I started looking at this comparison, I didn't remember quite how much Wright destroyed AA, but I can't remember any Mets' prospect since Wright tearing up a league quite as much as Herrera has at AA.

It may be that they want to shift Flores back to SS for the rest of the year. I'm also surprised that they haven't just told Wright to take September off. Maybe they're waiting until 9/1 to call up Reynolds and start giving Wright some more off days.

Isn't D’Arnaud one of the slowest guys in the major leagues? Why not first base?

If concussions are a concern, wouldn't 1B be a better option than LF where he can possibly collide with the CF/3B/SS or the outfield wall?

The obvious reason why 1B is out is that Duda is the only guy on this team hitting worth a crap, and is not an outfielder.

The slick move, therefore, would be to trade Duda. It'd be hard to argue it wouldn't be the epitome of selling high. It might be unpopular, but hey, they traded the flippin' Cy Young winner, so why stop now. I actually think the fans would mostly get it.

The real problem is that someone has to catch, and...

Plawecki did struggle a bit after his promotion, but he's really turned it on the past few weeks. Overall line for the season's up to .314/.369/.470, and in his minor league career he's at .297/.374/.442.

It's Vegas, baby! VEGAS!!!

(BTW, I think the organization just re-upped with Vegas as its affiliate for like five more years. Fun.)

So, it could work out to be a disaster: a bad catcher playing catcher and a guy who doesn't hit enough to play 1B playing 1B. But I'm sympathetic to the move. Concussions are scary. I don't want to lose the player.

I wonder if they'll try Herrera at SS. Could it really be less likely to work than Flores?

Flores played 485 games at SS in the minors. Herrera has played 27 games, all this year. As bad a shortstop as Flores is, I'd be worried about the effect on Herrera of making him play out of position at the same time that he has to learn to hit big league pitching. Its not like the Mets are playing for anything in September.

From what I've read, Herrera is more athletic than Flores but is thought not to have a good enough arm to stick at short.

Unless d'Arnaud is a catcher or a good fielding SS, 2b or CF, he's not a valuable major leaguer. Given that he's not a good fielding SS, 2b or CF, he's a catcher. There's no upside in putting him at any other position.

To paraphrase the old line about Ralph Kiner, I guess the Mets could manage to score one run on four hits per game without Duda in the lineup. Still, it seems somewhat perverse for a team that can't hit to trade it's best young, cheap hitter.

With the new collision rule, isn't the concussion risk substantially diminished? I can't recall a lot of catchers losing time due to foul balls to the helmet.

Actually it is the repeated foul balls to the head that cause catchers problems, not the (relatively) rare collisions with base runners. The average catcher could play for weeks at a time and not get run over on a play at the plate. On the other hand it would be rare indeed for a professional catcher not to take at least one foul ball per game off his mask. Watch a slow motion replay of a catcher taking a foul off his mask; typically his head snaps back the same as if he had been punched in the jaw. I don't know what the answer is to prevent this but if a player continues to be concussed while catching, continuing to play behind the plate is not going to be good for his long-term health.

Joe Mauer felt the same way about the switch to a titanium mask -- which claims to be 10 times stronger than steel while weighing just 16 ounces -- until he followed Doumit onto the concussion disabled list Aug. 20. [2013]

That continued a staggering trend for the month in which at least seven major league catchers suffered concussions while working behind the plate.

Of those, at least three were believed to be using titanium masks at the time of their injuries. So were Doumit and Mauer.

"From a catching standpoint, I hope the science catches up, and we can find a little better mask," Doumit said. "You look across the league, and you see (what's happening). We hope that somebody comes up with a mask that helps stifle that, because it's scary."

Like Doumit, who took a Jason Castro foul tip off the front of his mask Aug. 4 against Houston, Mauer was sidelined after a pair of hard jolts during an Aug. 19 makeup game against the New York Mets.

The second one, coming into the seventh inning off the bat of Ike Davis, resulted in the first diagnosed concussion of Mauer's professional career. [...]

At some point, there is only so much that researchers can do to protect catchers from the dangers of foul tips off the mask and helmet.

"The bottom line is if a baseball comes flying out of a guy's hand at 95 mph and gets foul-tipped into your mask, I don't know what you're going to be able to put on somebody's head to keep the head from being jerked back," [Twins manager Ron] Gardenhire said. "It's just part of the game. It's going to happen."

#27 - Again, I would think that there would currently be a LOT more catchers out with concussion DLs in that instance, given the new awareness of the consequences; but we're just not seeing it that I can recall this year. Getting hit in the helmet is not a concussion by default.

EDIT: Hmmm written before bobm's #30. I would stand corrected, although I'm curious about this year.

The Yankees only have to look as far as Brian McCann’s roster replacement for a reason to be uncertain about when the catcher might return from the concussion he suffered Friday.

McCann, on the 7-day concussion disabled list, was diagnosed with a “slight” concussion, according to manager Joe Girardi, a term Austin Romine is familiar with.

“Mine wasn’t supposed to be serious at all, but I didn’t come back,” Romine, who was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replace McCann, said before Sunday’s 4-1 loss to Cleveland in The Bronx. “These things are so unpredictable. It’s scary.”

Like McCann, Romine took a foul ball off his mask.

“It was just one time,” Romine said of the foul ball off Adam Jones’ bat on Sept. 10 in Baltimore.

Two differences between the incidents are that Romine was hit near his forehead and was dizzy and dry-heaving almost as soon as he left the game, while McCann was hit near his jaw and was not nauseous afterward.

Still, Romine never expected to miss the remainder of the 2013 season.

“It just lingered,” Romine said. “I was working on some things and I just didn’t feel right.”

Oakland A’s catcher John Jaso was placed on the 7-day concussion disabled list this past week since his concussion symptoms have worsened over the past two weeks. He told the press that he was struck by a hard foul tip that bounced off of his face mask back in early August when the Oakland A’s were playing the Tampa Bay Rays. As of today, it is unclear as to how long he will remain on the DL.

This is not the first time that Jaso has gone on the DL due to a concussion. In 2013, he landed on the DL in late July and sat out the rest of the season. Last year, many were hoping that he would be able to come back during the postseason to either pinch hit or DH, but that did not happen.

According to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, Indians manager Terry Francona said this evening that Yan Gomes is on pace to return from the seven-day concussion disabled list for the start of a weekend series against the Royals tomorrow.

Gomes suffered the concussion last Thursday against the Twins when was hit in the mask by a ball that deflected off the arm of Kurt Suzuki on a hit-by-pitch.

[Giants backup catcher Hector] Sanchez went on the concussion list July 26, then took a hard foul tip off the mask Aug. 16 while on an injury rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Fresno, sustaining a second concussion. He said he is still experiencing headaches, but hadn't vomited in two days.

Maybe this explains it: The Marlins placed slumping catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia on the 7-day concussion DL this morning and called up J.T. Realmuto from Double A Jacksonsville to take his place. Saltalamacchia had a miserable month, hitting just .177 with no home runs in May. Saturday, he went 0 for 3 with a pair of whiffs and was also charged with a throwing error.

When I spoke to him yesterday to talk about his slump (read about it here), he seemed all right, and there's been no indication from anyone that he's been dealing with concussion-like symptoms. Obviously, that's not the case. Will have to look it up when I get to the ballpark, but he recently took a shot to the head on a hitter's backswing and I assume that's where it all originated. Like I said, will get more details when I get to the park.

[Red Sox DH David] Ortiz swung and fouled off a 2-1 slider from relief pitcher Joba Chamberlain and then hit Avila on the right side of his helmet with his bat. Avila appeared to be stunned momentarily as he sat back onto the dirt behind home plate. [Manager Brad] Ausmus and head athletic trainer Kevin Rand headed to the plate where Rand asked Avila some questions.

Boston Red Sox catcher David Ross has been shutdown following his meeting with a concussion specialist on Friday and he will miss at least two weeks as he recovers from the injury, reports Alex Speier of WEEI.com.

Ross, 36, was hit in the catcher's mask by a foul tip during Friday's game against the Baltimore Orioles. He had spent time on the disabled list with a concussion in May and had reportedly still been feeling some symptoms. The latest incident caused a recurrence of the injury.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson exited Thursday's game between the A's and Giants at AT&T Park after just three innings because of a possible concussion resulting from a foul tip to his mask.

Crew chief Angel Hernandez, who began the contest at second base, took over duties behind the plate, leaving just a pair of umpires in the field.

Johnson took a hard foul tip off the front of his mask during Pablo Sandoval's first-inning at-bat. According to umpire supervisor Ed Montague, Johnson was being examined for concussion symptoms.

When Tommy Joseph went on the disabled list after suffering another head injury and potential concussion on April 25, he was in the midst of a tear. After going 0-for-4 in his first game back on Saturday, he got right back to destroying Eastern League pitching on Sunday.

Joseph, the Phillies' No. 16 prospect went 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs for Double-A Reading. Before he went on the DL, Joseph had reeled off an eight-game hitting streak and had homered in three of his last four games. He now has four homers and 12 RBIs in his last six games.

There is reason for concern about Joseph's health, however. The 22-year-old backstop played in just 36 games in 2013 because of concussion-related issues. So when he took a foul tip off of his head on April 25 and reported feeling uncomfortable, the Phillies immediately put him on the disabled list.

When healthy, the 2009 second-round pick of the San Francisco Giants, who came to the Phillies in the 2012 Trade Deadline deal for Hunter Pence, has shown serious home-run pop. He had a career high 22 homers in 2011, while playing for San Jose in the California League.

Plawecki did struggle a bit after his promotion, but he's really turned it on the past few weeks. Overall line for the season's up to .314/.369/.470, and in his minor league career he's at .297/.374/.442.
It's Vegas, baby! VEGAS!!!

most of his year was in the EL, most of his career has been in low offense environments

Nimmo, .286/.404/.439 on the year, his main offensive weapon remains the walk... which would be less worrisome if he had just a bit more xbh power, he has reached 10 HR this year, so maybe there's hope.

Gavin Cecchini: .245/.329/.376, he's young, he's an SS, showed a little pop, seems to have a good batting eye, but really needs to develop more cuz at this point he wouldn't hit .200 in the show

Domonic Smith: .273/.344/.341, well he's really young (19), and umm, he seems to have a good batting eye... but he's a 1B who hit one (1) home run in 500 Sallie League PAs... (give him 10 HRs and he'd match Wright at the same age and level, of course age 19 in the Sallie League was Wright's worst year at any level)

Vincente Lupo, I know nothing about him except he's 20 and hitting .278/.415/.504 in the Appy League (just 165 PAs) overall he's at .272/.408/.490 in 717 PAs in the VERY low minors, including when he was an overmatched 17 year old in the Domincan Summer league ( .197/.325/.379) and as a significantly less overmatched 18 year old in the same league (.343 /.500/.608) he's an OF...

and Michael Conforto 21 hitting .333/.408/.435 in Brooklyn (NY Penn) The last Mets 1st round 1b pick to pay in Brooklyn hit .256/.326/.326 there at the same age...

and of course the Met's farmhand that I've been following for 5 years, their first pick of 2009 (2nd round), local boy (local to me), Steven Matz, who just turned 23, who has had his arm fall off and been re-attached what seems like 5 times already... now after 5 years exclusively as a starter, has accumulated 271 IP, with a 276/80 K/BB and only 8 HR allowed in 271 IP, leading to an ERA of 2.29... 136 IP this year, 121/35 K/BB ERA of 2.19 (evenly split between FSL and EL)

Nimmo, .286/.404/.439 on the year, his main offensive weapon remains the walk... which would be less worrisome if he had just a bit more xbh power, he has reached 10 HR this year, so maybe there's hope.

That's an enormous improvement over last year even accounting for environment: an .086 ISO to a .153 ISO. He also cut way down on strikeouts. Kevin Youklis at 23 in A-AA: .310/.436/.424. Nimmo is 21. There's good reason to be excited about him.

It isnt the weight of the ball, it is the velocity...No matter the mask, if your head snaps back you can get a contra coup concussion as the brain bangs into the skull on the inside. Blows to the face are particularly hard to deal with..It is why quarterbacks get so many concussions as a linebacker comes up from low and hits them in the chin.

They're saying Murphy is going to be out a while. Why not shut everyone down for the year -- Murphy, Wright, Mejia. Hell, then next year you can talk about how things looked okay until everyone got hurt.

A team that already struggles on offense and plans to contend next season should not trade 50 percent of its hitters who actually performed in an above-average way in 2014 (Lucas Duda being the other). That is unless you are trading him for other hitters who can help in 2015, and why would a team that needs Murphy essentially give up Murphy-level hitters?

A club that wanted Murphy would either trade pitching — and that is not an area the Mets need to further solidify — or prospects. And why would a contending team, like the Mets intend to be next year, want more prospects? Unless it was to combine with other prospects to get a big hitter. And since that is a hard bunch of dots to connect — especially since the Mets cannot expect a significant return on Murphy — it brings us back to the Mets simply holding on to Murphy...

there would be 70 to 90 starts for Murphy at first, second, third, left (having Juan Lagares in center covers a lot of ground and left-field blemishes) and designated hitter plus pinch hits, double-switches, etc. That is 300-plus at-bats for a very good hitter on a one-year commitment at $8 million-ish or a reasonable amount for a contender from a large market willing to spend.

Sherman is right that Murph is totally worth $8M as a player, and that the Mets should be able to afford that. But, Murphy is really not well-suited to be a utility player on this particular roster... or, for that matter, to get only 300 AB when he's been the second-best hitter on the team. Sherman goes on to say that injuries and/or ineffectiveness of other players could greatly increase that number, which is true (but is a lot less true if you don't want to play him in LF, which I don't). I still don't love it, at all. I don't know what a good answer is here.

Sherman has to still have the scars on his optic nerves from watching Murphy play LF. There're no ABs for him there, no matter how amazing Lagares is in CF. And Murphy as a utility player I think weakens his defense everywhere. I'm wondering how much hinges on this last month-- Herrera at 2B makes me more nervous than Flores does at SS (based on a very small sample, obviously)--but if he and Flores really shine as DP partners, does that change the equation much, or is Herrera still ticketed for AAA? Could den Dekker hit enough in his audition that they consider a larger role for him next year? I sort of feel like we've been here before...